In this week alone, there have been four successful drives, with two pods of striped dolphins, one pod of Risso’s dolphins and a pod of bottlenose dolphins falling prey to the greed and ignorance of Japan’s dolphin hunts.

It’s hard to write the words to adequately convey what was witnessed today, with the hunt and slaughter of a pod of approximately 35 striped dolphins. After the mammals were driven into the Cove, several began to panic, suffering gruesome injuries in their attempts to escape. One mammal appears to have suffered grievous injuries to its upper (and possibly lower) jaw, bleeding profusely as a diver roughly pulls it off the rocks to its slaughter.

Taiji’s dolphin hunters have certainly been kept busy this month. In this week alone, there have been four successful drives, with two pods of striped dolphins, one pod of Risso’s dolphins and a pod of bottlenose dolphins falling prey to the greed and ignorance of Japan’s dolphin hunts.

Our team of Dolphin Project Cove Monitors continues to document the ongoing horror of what these mammals endure at human hands, live streaming on our multiple social media platforms for the world to witness and to take action.

It’s hard to write the words to adequately convey what was witnessed today, with the hunt and slaughter of a pod of approximately 35 striped dolphins. After the mammals were driven into the Cove, several began to panic, suffering gruesome injuries in their attempts to escape. One mammal appears to have suffered grievous injuries to its upper (and possibly lower) jaw, bleeding profusely as a diver roughly pulls it off the rocks to its slaughter.

“This is EXACTLY why we need to keep a small crew on the ground 24/7 for the entire six months of the Taiji dolphin killing season. This level of extreme cruelty is screaming to be exposed. We can never allow it to be hidden from the public – especially from the Japanese consumers.” ~ Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project

All members of this pod were slaughtered, their meat soon to be on the shelves of Japanese supermarkets – meat that is considered unsafe for human consumption.

Please view these images and the video clip below. They represent undeniable proof that Japan’s dolphin hunts are inhumane and extremely cruel. AND THEY MUST END.

Struggling Hong Kong theme park to end dolphin shows, however it will continue to allow visitors to hug a dolphin.

A struggling Hong Kong theme park has said it will end its controversial dolphin and sea lion shows but will continue to allow visitors to hug a dolphin, drawing criticism from animal rights groups.

Ocean Park said on Monday (Jan 13) it would replace the daily shows at its flagship enclosure with "underwater viewing opportunities" for visitors.

"Under the new plan, the Ocean Wonder show will cease," said Leo Kung, chairman of Ocean Park.

However, the park said it would continue to allow visitors to pay to feed and pose with the dolphins in the water.

Ocean Park's captive animal shows and dolphin-petting activities have long been criticised by the animal rights community.

Dolphins suffer physically and mentally from life in captivity, according to the Born Free Foundation which also says on its website that physical interactions with the public are "highly stressful" for the animals.

"Ocean Park's decision to end its dolphin shows but to keep the animals as a tourist gimmick is a missed ethical and financial opportunity," said Jason Baker, vice president of PETA.

Hong Kong non-profit organisation Animal Rights Education said in a Facebook statement the move was an important step, but urged the park to gradually end marine animal captivity.

According to the park's annual report, it had 7,600 animals including 63 marine mammals, 59 terrestrial mammals, 454 birds and others.

The amusement park has suffered an "unprecedented steep decline" in visitors of more than 30 per cent since protests broke out in the financial hub last summer, the South China Morning Post recently reported.

Hong Kong's government is planning to help the park with a HK$10.6 billion (US$1.4 billion) cash injection.

Aside from replacing the Ocean Theatre, the park also aims to add 26 new rides as part of a plan to transform it into an adventure-themed attraction.

The horrific dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan starts each year on September 1st and lasts for six months. All of the dolphins and whales that are hunted down and kept alive, have to witness the violent death of many of their beloved family/pod members before being brutally transported off to small pools/pens where they will live as traumatized, enslaved victims solely for the purpose of human entertainment and corporate greed. It is primarily because of tour operators and cruise lines that there is a huge demand for captive dolphins and whales, as well as other marine life.

As long as tour operators keep promoting and selling tickets and cruise lines keep transporting tourists to these facilities, the violent hunts will continue as will the inhumane breeding of many of the captive animals.

Please don't buy a ticket to dolphanariums or other venues (circuses, zoos, etc.) that have animals, and be sure to spread the word to others who are not aware ot this inhumane industry. It is so important that we help put an end to the hunting, terrorizing and enslaving of these precious beings, and to work towards creating safe havens where all of the animals currently being held captive can be rehabilitated and returned to their homes in nature.

With 24 years online, this is the oldest and largest online elephant database in the world and also possibly the largest database of animal individuals. Updated almost daily it presents 8655 captive living elephants, and each of the 2938 location facilities hundreds of countries in 6 continent regions, as a neutral unbiased documentation.

You can either search for an elephants name, a location name or for a certain country. You can also use the navigation links on top, on "database" you can choose births and deaths for any given year 1880-today from the list of 6737 dead elephants from both species.

Ceta-Base, an online inventory of dolphins, whales and porpoises in marine parks around the world. The database maintains a historical record of cetaceans that have been held in human care throughout history.

The Sustainable Action Network (SAN), A Don Lichterman non-profit organization dedicated to building a global community raising awareness of corruption, injustice and the need for action across a full range of issues impacting people and animal/wildlife welfare around the world, such as conservation, climate change, campaign law, lobbying, government action and rescue work. SAN’s vision is to create safer world, free from political, environmental, and social oppression, where all the inhabitants of Earth can live in harmony within their own natural environments.
Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.